WDP to start developing its portfolio in Romania in early 2011 (RO)

Closed-end real estate investment company Warehouses De Pauw (Euronext: WDP) concluded a first lease contract with the Italian division of the German company Röchling-Automotive, AG&Co., KG for the construction of 5,000 m² for its new Romanian home base on the WDP site in Oarja (Pitesti). WDP will start building this first project in Romania at the beginning of 2011.

WDP also concluded a finance agreement with the EIB (European Investment Bank) for 75 million in order to finance its development in Romania in the coming years. WDP will use the financing for the development of logistic and industrial centers on its sites in Romania.

The EIB was established under the treaty of Rome in 1957 and created in 1958 as the EU long-term lending institution. The EIB's mission is to further develop the objectives of the European Union by making long-term finance available for sound investment.

WDP takes off in Romania
In 2007 WDP opted for Romania as a future market for further development in addition to its home market (Benelux and France). WDP launched its 51% subsidiary WDP Development RO in a joint venture with real-estate specialist Jeroen Biermans.

Over the last three years WDP Development RO purchased 10 sites, amounting to a total surface area of almost 850,000 m². The sites are situated at three different axes in the vicinity of Bucharest, along the roads to Constanta, Pitesti and Ploiesti. The sites are situated at prime logistical locations since they lie along the eastern, western and northern approaches linking the capital, Bucharest, with the Black Sea and the rest of the country.

WDP Development RO will start developing in early 2011 with the initial construction of a semiindustrial center of 5,000 m² on the site in Oarja on the road to Pitesti, Romania's key car manufacturing center. WDP Development RO will build the premises for the German company Röchling-Automotive, who will lease the site for 10 years fix as from the end of Q3 2011. The contract also includes a potential 50% increase in size of the premises to 7,500 m². Röchling, active in the automotive industry, will install its new Romanian basis on the site and will supply among others the new Ford factory in Craiova, one of the most significant ongoing industrial developments in Romania.

WDP CEO Joost Uwents: "We are very happy to take off and start developing our portfolio in Romania. We opted for Romania in 2007 because of its outstanding growth potential. Because of the economic circumstances of recent years we approached the market rather cautiously and opted to sign lease contracts before starting construction.

"With this first project for Röchling and the finance agreement with the EIB we can now start our development in Romania, where we will very soon dispose of this first reference, which will enable us to accelerate our future developments in the country."